


The Dress

by akmyers



Category: Original Work
Genre: Abusive Marriage, Abusive Relationships, Emotional Abuse, F/M, Physical Abuse, Short Story, abused wife, abusive husband, abusive language, bad marriage, creative nonfiction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:26:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28298934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akmyers/pseuds/akmyers
Summary: a moment in time of an abusive marriage
Kudos: 1





	The Dress

She woke up feeling better than she had in a long time. For starters, she could breathe which was a vast improvement from even the day before. She laid in bed and relished the ability to take deep breaths through her nose with minimal snot rattling. The liberation was intoxicating.

Sleeping in hadn't hurt either. Waking up every day of the week to either go to work or study and do school work had put a hard set on her internal alarm clock. It usually served her well, ensuring she didn't oversleep, but on her rare, and increasingly rarer, days off it sucked to wake up and not be able to fall back to sleep. Those late morning lie-ins appeared to have been left behind in her late teens. Not today though. No, today she woke up at 11 am feeling refreshed and invigorated. The sinus infection that had been plaguing her for weeks was on its way out. She could breath. She had the whole rest of the day to do whatever she wanted.

She stretched and took another deep, luxurious breath. The idea of staying in bed and enjoying the new memory foam mattress and fluffy bedding set tempted her, but the hollowness in her belly told her she needed to eat sooner rather than later. So she reluctantly sat up and got out of bed. She grabbed her pink and white striped robe from where it hung over the edge of the closet door and pulled it on and secured the tie. When she opened the bedroom door she could hear her husband rummaging around downstairs, and she went to join him.

It was a beautiful late spring day, and the sunlight streamed in through the living room windows. Blue sky and fluffy white clouds painted a lovely picture above the neighbors' roofs, and as she came down the stairs and turned the corner towards the kitchen and dining area the sight of greening grass in the backyard made her smile. It was a glorious day to be alive, and her heart beat out a song of gratitude. Soon the semester would be over, and she would have more time to herself. There would be time to plant flowers and lay out in the sun. Her husband had talked about building a greenhouse and putting in some raised beds for vegetables. They dreamed together about how nice it would be to go out and harvest their own veggies for dinner, about how wonderful it would be to have the yard, a little piece of land just for them. Their own slice of paradise. True, they hadn't done anything with it the year before besides planting a few flowers, but money had been tight- money was always tight- and when she'd asked when he wanted to get the greenhouse and garden set up he'd looked over from his video game and told her he just didn't have the time to help with yardwork. This summer would be different though. She'd even decided not to take that summer class so they'd have more time to spend together and on the house.

He must have heard her approaching because he was closing the fridge and turning to greet her when she made it to the kitchen.

"You're up," he said. His gaze flicked upwards, and the scrunch of his nose alerted her to the messiness of her hair. She raised a self-conscious hand and ran it through her unruly bedhead in an attempt to tame it a bit. "I'm starving, and we don't have anything to eat." She always wanted to interrupt when he said that. It was at his insistence that their shelves and fridge were kept mostly bare. He claimed to not believe in keeping a stocked pantry, but the reasons he gave never made sense to her. Reasons like he only wanted to eat things "fresh" from the store or that he never knew what he was going to be in the mood to eat. She didn't understand why this should keep them from at least keeping some basic pantry essentials in the house, but when she tried to make this point he lamented that of course she didn't understand him. "Do you want to go get curry?"

"Oh my god, yes!" she replied. Curry would be just what she needed, warm, delicious and filling and spicy enough to clear the remaining mucus out of her sinuses.

"I've been wanting to try that new place in midtown."

"Sounds good to me. I'll go get dressed."

"Hurry up. I'm hungry."

She scampered up the stairs. It was already a great day, and it was only getting better. Between both of their schedules, they hadn't been able to spend much time together lately. Sharing a meal and some conversation was just what they needed.

She stopped in the bathroom to wet down her hair and ran her finger through it a few times. Her pixie cut was cute and fun, but it made for some awful bedhead. She considered actually styling it, but hurry meant hurry. Ditto for makeup. She'd have to make it up by dressing extra cute, and she knew just the thing.

In the back of the closet was one of the cutest, brightest, happiest pieces of clothing she owned, a halter sundress in bright blue and green plaid. She bought it before their wedding during a rare clothing shopping spree for herself, and she adored it. Looking at it lifted her spirits, and wearing it felt like a celebration. She'd worn it on their honeymoon in Mexico on the two days when she'd been allowed to choose their activities for the day, and the dress would forever be associated with street markets, long walks in the fresh sea air, and beach front restaurants.

She smiled as she slipped it on and tied the top behind her neck. It was a bit wrinkly, but it had just spent several months in the back of a closet, and the wrinkles didn't take away the warm, sunshiney feeling it gave her. Considering that it might still be a little brisk outside, she reached back into the closet for a light jacket. She didn't realize her husband was behind her until he spoke.

"Are you ready yet?" She turned around, and he looked her up and down and laughed. "You look sad."

Her heart dropped. "... what?"

"You look sad. Your nose is all red. You look gross, but you're wearing that bright dress. It's pathetic. Like you're trying too hard."

"Oh..." She sat down on the edge of the bed, a king-sized monstrosity that took up most of the modest bedroom. He'd told her she needed to buy it after they moved in. The queen-sized one they'd used for years wasn't big enough. Sometimes they touched while they were sleeping. "I changed my mind. I don't want to go anymore."

"No, come on. We're going."

"I don't want to."

He stepped forward and grabbed her upper arm. "Get. In. The. Car. We're going."

She fought back a sniffle. "Okay. Let's go. I'm sorry." She exhaled when he released her. "I'm just going to grab my jacket."

"No. Now."

"Okay. I'm sorry."

He moved to the side and let her pass him, and then he followed her down the stairs. She slipped on her work shoes even though they didn't go with the dress because she didn't have to stop and tie them. He followed her out the front door, and she waited by the passenger door, shivering in the light spring breeze, while he locked up the house.

When he unlocked the car, she slid into her seat. It was pointless to ask him to turn on the heater. She wasn't ready to be ridiculed for not dressing warmly enough. She rubbed her arm where he'd grabbed it. The skin was hot and red, but it probably wouldn't bruise.

"I don't understand why you have to be such a fucking cunt," he said as he began to pull out of the driveway. "I'm just being honest with you." He glanced over at her, and she kept her gaze straight ahead. "God, couldn't you have at least put on some makeup?"

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! You can also find me on wattpad (https://www.wattpad.com/user/akmyers) or on my website (www.akmyers.net).


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